In strong language implying that the District Attorney's Office defrauded taxpayers by circumventing a union-negotiated pay cut, Santa Clara County officials demanded Thursday that prosecutors who benefited "inappropriately'' from DA Jeff Rosen's controversial distribution of extra time off give the perk back or risk being investigated by the county for wrongdoing themselves.

The explosive directive came as state Attorney General Kamala Harris continues her civil investigation into whether Rosen violated the state government code by rewarding his top deputies paid time off to make up for a 5 percent bonus they lost as part of countywide cutbacks. The investigation was instigated at the request of the county.

In a letter to the Government Attorneys Association, deputy county executive Luke Leung branded the district attorney's unilateral decision to award up to hundreds of hours off in some cases as a "secret action" aimed at circumventing an "important" union-negotiated concession intended to save county taxpayer dollars. Leung uses the phrase "defraud the county" twice to describe the potential impact of the extra time off.

Rosen blasted the county in response, calling the letter "inaccurate" and "misleading."

"I do not appreciate attempts by the County Executive to bully my hardworking prosecutors," Rosen said in a written statement.

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Given the ongoing attorney general's investigation, Rosen also said he was "puzzled by the content and timing of the county's letter demanding that Supervising Attorneys return a Fair Labor Standards Act benefit that they lawfully earned."

Rosen's decision to quietly give extra time off in the form of paid administrative leave is controversial because it allows the supervising attorneys -- who are among the office's highest-paid lawyers at salaries of about $195,000 each -- to preserve vacation time they might otherwise have used and eventually sell it back to the county for cash.

He has said he did nothing wrong by awarding the extra time off, describing the supervising attorneys, including the homicide chief and head of the gang unit, as extremely hardworking, committed prosecutors who are on call 24 hours a day and are essential to the office's operation and to public safety.

The supervising attorneys lost their bonuses under the county's September 2011 contract with the Government Attorneys Association, which represents prosecutors, public defenders and child-support attorneys. Rosen's decision to compensate them with extra time off surfaced via news reports.

The county's top administrator, Jeff Smith, has said the benefit is worth about $280,000. Under the contract, the 5 percent bonus will be restored later this month after nearly two years of savings.

Since the perk surfaced, 10 other county unions, including the largest, have either filed grievances or written letters claiming the county also must award them equivalent perks, under the "me-too" clause contained in every contract with the county. Doing so could cost taxpayers millions, county officials have said. Under the contracts, if any unit doesn't meet its pro-rated share of concessions, then the county must lower other unions' share and cost of the cuts to its members by a proportional amount.

In the county's view, Rosen is authorized to grant up to 40 hours of administrative leave annually, but is not permitted to award the time to make up for a union-negotiated cut.

It was unclear Thursday whether all the supervising attorneys will give back the perk -- either by turning in their unused hours or by substituting vacation time or sick days for any hours they've already taken.

The union could file a grievance protesting the demand on their behalf, or they could file individual grievances at their own expense. The union is unlikely to file a grievance though since the group's attorney has called the extra time off a "gift of public funds" in violation of the government code, and a possible felony.

Thursday, the union issued a statement in response to the county's letter, calling the use of administrative leave to "controvert" the union's concessions to the county "wrong." But the group said it will study the demand and eventually respond formally to the county.

"I hope the reputation of the hardworking supervising attorneys in my office is not sullied by DA Rosen's secretive use of unauthorized administrative leave," union president Max Zarzana said.

Zarzana also noted that the county mistakenly included several attorneys who did not get time off to make up for the lost bonus. The list of hours also mistakenly includes legitimately granted leave, he said.

County officials said they are open to working with the union to refine the list.

Two of the attorneys on the list -- Jim Sibley and Steve Fein -- had already asked Rosen to take the time back, but he turned them down. Sibley said Thursday that he will "absolutely" relinquish the perk. Fein could not be reached.

But supervising attorney Cindy Hendrickson said she and the other top deputies earned the time off by working long hours, including being on call 24 hours a day. The attorneys aren't eligible to earn overtime and thus need extra time off to sustain their commitment to the grueling job of seeking justice and maintaining public safety, she said. However, all 183 of the lawyers in the office, including the supervising attorneys, are salaried and not hourly. Many also work long hours, and Hendrickson said she thinks they are also entitled to time off for doing so.

"I'm tremendously offended by the letter," Hendrickson said. "He is saying that the leaders of the office are all a bunch of felons. But I'm comfortable that I never acted at any time to defraud the county."